It’s the one question I get the most. Can I share tips on how to go vegan? Then followed by favorite products and foods I love.

While I’m recuperating from knee surgery, I thought this would be the perfect time to tackle a post that will cover transitioning your diet over, favorite foods that I’ve discovered over my journey and brands for beauty, the home and life that are both vegan and don’t test on animals. Along with fashion, shoes, eating out with friends… all of the goodness.

Happy second Monday of the week (ha!). Hope you had a lovely holiday weekend with family & friends. Ours was productive & relaxing, which is exactly what we needed. We got to eat out a lot & enjoy some really awesome vegan food in Philly so that’s a win to me.

Today when I got home from the gym, I knew I had to mentally start prepping menus for the week. While going through some social media I saw that my favorite Minimalist Baker was promoting her e-book and that all sales today (you name the price) were being donated to a food bank in Houston… needless to say, I jumped all over that and lovingly devoured her recipes. This recipe stood out to me as my garden is bursting with enormous kale leaves. See pic below for evidence.

So I got started and adapted as I went along. The recipe turned out great, the falafel is tender and crunchy. The recipe made a nice batch with some to freeze for a quick dinner idea in the future. All made in the food processor so clean up is a cinch too! I hope you give this recipe a whirl. Perfectly served up on a bun, pita or straight away. I love adding one to my salad. Top with vegan mayo, hummus or whatever you like.

We had 6 nights/7 days & wanted a tropical vacay without a lot of flight/travel time. My oldest suggested South Beach & we booked the trip. Having spent every summer in South Beach from my teenage years through early 20’s… I love it there but oh the humidity. I clearly was more tolerant in my youth than I am today. I won’t be retiring to Florida or anywhere down south but we did have a blast.

Miami is a super short flight from PA so it worked. We stayed at 2 different hotels during our trip. I want to cover in this brief posting where we stayed and ate. Clearly walking around, shopping, touring etc. are all things that are preference by tourist. We tour a lot. Walked a ton each day and consequentially sweat our body weight out each and every day. We spent only 2 days laying out for a few hours because we’re all a bit too active to just relax 😉

Moving on to the Best of… series I thought I would focus on a big one – vegan meats! There are plenty of options out there and I feel like I’ve tried most (I’m sure I haven’t but…). I compiled our favorites list and these can be found at most grocery stores and Targets across the country. One caveat, my favorite – all time best meat alternative however is only found at Whole Foods but it is totally worth the trip to get your hands on their burgers. More on that below.

Now the big comment every vegan hears from their carnivore counterparts is: “If you need to find a meat replacement, why don’t you just eat the real deal?”. Well… because we don’t believe in eating animals. If there is a plant-based substitute available that is just as tasty, isn’t laden with hormones, blood and who-knows-what binders… why wouldn’t you eat that? Tirade over. Ha.

Over the month of December, my family had the pleasure to test out fresh food home delivery from Blue Apron. Admittedly, I’m quite critical about food, quality, packaging and presentation due to the fact that I receive a lot of food samples/products from companies all over the world. My family was so impressed with the fresh food, quality, packaging, timeliness that we ordered several gift cards for holidays gifts for friends and family to channel their inner chef. Let’s face it, less trips to the grocery store during the crazy rush and fresh, new recipes in hand. I was smitten with the entire concept.

So many people think they can’t cook, prefer not to go to the grocery store and gravitate towards eating out or getting take-out. Does this sound familiar? But what if a box of fresh food packaged with everything you need, no waste, would be shipped directly to you when you want with the meals you chose? It’s a game-changer – even for a foodie like me who loves grocery shopping/prepping food for my family.

So let me tell you how the whole process worked. You sign up online and select how many people are in your family, dietary needs/restrictions/preferences and then you select meals and delivery dates. That’s it! The insulated package is delivered right to your door.

Inside the box you will find recipe cards, prepackaged ingredients & a tiny brown paper back with knick knacks (sauces etc.). Everything was incredibly fresh.
I will admit, everyone was very willing to participate in cooking the meals once the box arrived. Normally my family isn’t this intrigued. Everyone was reading recipe cards and claiming what meals they wanted to prepare and eat.

The recipe cards were very easy to follow with many detailed photos. Each ingredient is labeled and you can easily identify which veggie went with which recipe. Minimal prep was required and within a short amount of time your meal was ready. They even include bread/rolls etc. to finish off the dish. We tried several recipes and our favorites by far with the broccoli and white bean burgers and the potato soup.

Some other delicious recipes we tried…

Blue Apron wanted to share a discount with my readers. They’re offering $30 off your first order or 3 free meals with a subscription. So are you ready to channel your inner-chef or get inspired by some new recipes?

Oh this dreamy, protein-packed burger hit the spot yesterday not to mention, allowed me to use up the beets harvested from our garden last week. Okay, so you’re thinking you dislike the earthly flavor of beets, right? My husband’s main complaint until I made these burgers during football Sunday. I didn’t mention what was in them, after all he was paying more attention to the game and was too busy screaming at the television. I created this super flavorful burger and put it in from to him and he loved it. Then I divulged the ingredients. He was shocked.

The burger pan fries up so beautifully. Crispy exterior with a nice crunch. The flavors are wonderful. This recipe made 8 burgers (not huge or too small). They keep in the fridge or freezer if packaged well. Perfect make-ahead food for the week. I prefer to add these to a big salad in lieu of a bun (which I don’t eat). They were a hit and let’s face it… the protein in quinoa is more than beef so this is a big time winner especially after my run yesterday. Okay enough rambling… let’s get to this![Read more…]